Home & Garden

Does your dog have dry, flaky skin? This is the home remedy our Veterinarian recommended for our dog… and it worked! It’s the best dog dry skin home remedy I’ve found so far — and the item is already in your pantry.

Of all the different sponges I’ve used, the melamine foam sponge is the one I use most often in our house with 3 dogs. But I still get questions from curious readers about the safety of melamine foam — on skin, with kids, around pets, etc. Here’s what you need to know about melamine sponges and how they work.

Here’s a really cool way to repurpose old 45 vinyl records into a DIY lamp that changes colors and plays music. Yep, this DIY glow lamp is actually a color-changing bluetooth speaker lamp! See how I did it…

Trying to decide if you could live in a house without a tub? And if a shower-only bathroom will hurt your home’s resale value? A list of pros & cons. Plus thoughts from someone who’s been in your shoes and currently lives in a house that has a bathroom with shower only.

Exploding glass makes great headlines, doesn’t it? But what’s really going on here? The truth is, there’s more behind the Anchor Hocking and Pyrex exploding bakeware phenomenon than most people realize. Here are the facts.

Overall, I think the Softub is a fun outdoor hot tub that is therapeutic, convenient, economical, and best of all… portable! But there are a few things we don’t like about it. See our review, plus photos of our Softub hot tub in use.

My dog ate Advil. (It was a single 200 mg liquid gel capsule with Ibuprofen inside.) Dogs and Ibuprofen don’t mix – so I knew it was important to treat this right away! I rushed her to the vet, and I’m glad I did. Here’s what I’ve learned about Ibuprofen toxicity in dogs.

After reading the Marie Kondo book and watching her ‘Tidying Up’ series on Netflix, I’ve been following the KonMari method of living minimally. It has taught me to surround myself only with things I love — not things I feel pressure to buy. As a result, I save money and I feel much more at peace in my own home — and in my own mind.

To keep sharp objects in the kitchen out of my toddler’s reach, I made a kitchen utensil holder & universal knife block in one – with just a few pieces of wood and some bamboo skewers. This DIY wooden utensil holder is super simple to make, and can be made any size you like!

Have a lot of spices, packets, and jars in your spice cupboard right now? Here are some DIY spice rack ideas to organize your kitchen! See how I used paint stir sticks to make my own spice drawer inserts. Yep, a $4 DIY spice drawer organizer! Then, with the extra space inside my spice cabinet, I was able to better organize the shelves for baking goods and food storage containers.

I was surprised to learn how many dog owners celebrate the birthdays of their beloved pets by throwing Dog Birthday Parties and serving Dog Birthday Cakes. Here are the fun facts… Plus all the details for you to have your very own Dog Birthday Party!

Want to know how to dry a bed sheet fast?… I’ve found it! I did an experiment to calculate the actual time spent drying, untangling, re-separating, and re-drying bed sheets using each of the following methods: 1) Put all sheets into the dryer at one time, 2) Put wool dryer balls / tennis balls in with the sheets, 3) Put a dry towel in with the sheets, 4) Put only one bed sheet at a time in the dryer. See which of these methods is the fastest way to dry bed sheets!

There’s just something about coffee & roaches… especially cockroaches and coffee machines. Trust me, I know! Unless you want cockroach coffee at home, here’s how to get rid of roaches in your coffee maker once and for all. Plus how to properly disinfect a coffee machine that’s had roaches in it.

Have a dog (or multiple dogs), but don’t have a fenced-in yard for them to run and play in? Then you’ll enjoy these DIY dog tie-out ideas. See the overhead dog trolley system that worked for our 2 dogs.

Here’s how to elope. Everything you need to know about elopement wedding dresses, the best places to elope, and elopement packages that will take care of all the details of your surprise wedding & make it the destination wedding of your dreams.

There is one super simple way to reduce the amount of money you throw away on your electricity bill every month… switch out your incandescent light bulbs for LED light bulbs. You’ll not only recoup the cost of the LED light bulb you bought, but you’ll also save hundreds — maybe even thousands — of dollars on your monthly electricity bills! Here’s how…

The Bristly dog toothbrush is a special chew toy that functions as a toothbrush for dogs. Who doesn’t need a little help brushing their dog’s teeth??? If there’s an easier way to do it… I’m all in! Dog teeth brushing is one thing that is not all that easy to do. I still do it with all 3 of my dogs — but it’s not what I’d call fun. The Bristly dog toothbrush toy is a FUN way to brush my dog’s teeth! The best part: he does all the work, not me. Here’s my review, including the 10 things I like best and 3 things I’m not so crazy about. But the bottom line is my dogs LOVE it!

Need to do some PVC pipe repair? A $2.87 slip pipe fixed my broken PVC water pipe and saved me hundreds of dollars in plumbing repair bills. If I can do it, you can too! Here’s how to fix a broken water pipe yourself using a slip pipe.

I like to repurpose things whenever I can, and I’m always wanting a fast easy way to start a fire in our fire pit — so I came up with this simple idea for DIY fire starters using dryer lint, tealight candles, and toilet paper tubes. It’s a good way to repurpose dryer lint and cardboard tubes from paper towels & toilet paper. Plus, these dryer lint fire starters work really well! Here’s how I make them…

Want the easiest way to get sparkling, streak free windows? I’m constantly removing dog nose prints, cat paw prints, and my son’s hand prints from our glass sliding doors using this method. It’s the fastest way I can clean the windows without streaks or chemicals!

See how I made this DIY boot rack / bench out of a $5 wooden spool, some scrap wood, and paint. It’s the perfect solution for keeping wet, muddy boots outside without getting water inside them. It’s also useful for hanging kids muddy clothes on — right outside the door!

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About Us

I like to help people find unique ways to do things in order to save time & money -- so I write about "outside the box" ideas that most wouldn't think of. (I've written over 3,000 articles here so far!) As a lifelong dog owner, I often share my best tips for living with and training dogs. I worked in Higher Ed over 10 years before switching gears to pursue activities that I'm truly passionate about. I've worked at a vet, in a photo lab, and at a zoo -- to name a few. I enjoy the outdoors via bicycle, motorcycle, Jeep, or RV. You can always find me at the corner of Good News & Fun Times as publisher of The Fun Times Guide (32 fun & helpful websites). Read More…

Jeep guy. Harley owner. Publisher of a few of dozen websites. Tech geek. Hydroponic lettuce & veggie farmer. And I get to play on the Internet for a living! (Would you believe we have more than 7,500 articles here at The Fun Times Guide?!) Read More…